What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

Author:Philip Yancey [Yancey, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Life, General, Christian Theology, Soteriology
ISBN: 9780310245650
Google: HjyxLas0U7YC
Amazon: 1480555266
Goodreads: 53817
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 1997-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The second way in which Jesus’ revolution affects me centers on how we are to view “different” people. Jesus’ example convicts me today, because I sense a subtle shift in the reverse direction. As society unravels and immorality increases, I hear calls from some Christians that we show less mercy and more morality, calls that hark back to the style of the Old Testament.

A phrase used by both Peter and Paul has become one of my favorite images from the New Testament. We are to administer, or “dispense,” God’s grace, say the two apostles. The image brings to mind one of the old-fashioned “atomizers” women used before the perfection of spray technology. Squeeze a rubber bulb, and droplets of perfume come shooting out of the fine holes at the other end. A few drops suffice for a whole body; a few pumps change the atmosphere in a room. That is how grace should work, I think. It does not convert the entire world or an entire society, but it does enrich the atmosphere.

Now I worry that the prevailing image of Christians has changed from that of a perfume atomizer to a different spray apparatus: the kind used by insect exterminators. There’s a roach! Pump, spray, pump, spray. There’s a spot of evil! Pump, spray, pump, spray. Some Christians I know have taken on the task of “moral exterminator” for the evil-infested society around them.

I share a deep concern for our society. I am struck, though, by the alternative power of mercy as demonstrated by Jesus, who came for the sick and not the well, for the sinners and not the righteous. Jesus never countenanced evil, but he did stand ready to forgive it. Somehow, he gained the reputation as a lover of sinners, a reputation that his followers are in danger of losing today. As Dorothy Day put it, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”

These are difficult issues, I realize, and for this reason they deserve a chapter of their own.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.